URGENT UPDATE: New information shows that the Zim-operated ship was delayed and will now dock at the Vancouver harbour port on Tuesday, June 8. So grab your mask and keffiyeh and gather June 8 at 3 pm at Woodland Park. ** We strongly urge everyone to get all updates and news by texting your name to 1-833-590-1987 **
(#BlockTheBoat Vancouver Action, June 8)(Marching to the Vancouver Port, June 8)
And bravo to Oakland that on Friday held a successful #BlockTheBoat action, forcing the Zim-operated ship to finally leave the harbour without unloading. Our campaigns and organizing are working: Israeli Apartheid not welcome in Vancouver Port! FB Event Page
(Oakland community picket to Block The Boat June 4)
For the past 10 days, the threat of the #BlockTheBoat protest organized in the Bay Area has kept a cargo ship operated by ZIM – apartheid Israel’s largest and oldest shipping company – from docking at the Port of Oakland. We are winning! Our people power is working, and sending a clear message that Israel’s ongoing settler-colonialism, occupation, and violence against the Palestinian people will come with a heavy price. Every hour that ZIM cargo ships remain undocked and unloaded is a huge victory, as it means that the apartheid state of Israel is losing enormous amounts of money. Here in Vancouver, we are responding to an international call to action to BLOCK THE BOAT here at the Port of Vancouver as well! Learn more about #BlockTheBoat at https://blocktheboat.org
Let’s send a clear message: Israeli apartheid is not welcome at Vancouver’s ports! ** Because shipping times and docks can always change, it’s important to be organized and ready to block the boat! Text your name to +1-833-590-1987 to make sure you stay in the loop! **
(Updated May 23) May 24, 2 pm, Car Rally 5235 Kingsway, Burnaby FB Event page
May 22, 6 pm, Vancouver Art Gallery Vigil/Rally to be followed by March
The Palestinian uprising isn’t over and we’re going to keep up this momentum and continue pressuring for change. Families in Sheikh Jarrah are still waiting to hear from Israeli colonial courts next month on whether settlers will take their homes, Gaza is being heavily bombarded with air strikes, and Palestinian protests are occurring from Ramallah to Haifa. On Saturday, May 22, we will hold a vigil and then a rally. The vigil will begin at 6 PM at the Vancouver Art Gallery, where we will commemorate the lives of those recently killed by Israeli violence in Gaza, Haifa, Jerusalem, Hebron and other Palestinian cities. We will have a few speakers, and provide candles, flowers, and the names and pictures of those killed. Following the vigil, we will be marching to the U.S Consulate with a list of demands for both Canada and the US as well as a call to action. Stay tuned for program details. The route for the march will also be published here so you can follow it. (Be sure to bring your mask and keffiyeh or Palestinian scarf and observe appropriate physical distancing.)
Vancouver’s #Nabka73 event started as a rally of one thousand at CBC Plaza and then marched through the downtown core, where some estimates say it swelled to over two thousand. It was a historic event for Vancouver, both in numbers, in diversity and in spirit. Check out our photo highlights below to see how Palestinians everywhere are making history.
Natalie Knight brings the message of indigenous solidarity to the rally. From Turtle Island to Palestine, Colonization is a Crime!
May 15, 2 pm, CBC Vancouver Plaza (700 Hamilton St.)
Bring your keffiyeh and mask and join us on May 15 for a physically distanced Nakba73 Flash Picket at the CBC Plaza. #DefendJerusalem #SaveSheikhJarrah
May 15 marks 73 years of Palestinian dispossession and attempts to erase Palestine from the map of the world. It also marks decades of Palestinian resistance and refusal to accept Israeli settler colonialism and occupation. Lets hold the Palestinian flag high in Vancouver; and show CBC that Palestine does indeed exist, contrary to its biased and racist language guide. Lets also tell the Canadian government that their complicity in Israeli war crimes must end! FB Event Page
The sale of wines from illegal Israeli settlements in BC and Canadian liquor stores has been an ongoing travesty for over a decade; there is no better place for the NDP to implement its new policy to end “all trade and economic cooperation with illegal settlements in Israel-Palestine”.
Today, we sent a letter to the Finance Minister in the BC NDP government, calling for action to finally be taken on this issue. In September 2018, thirty-one organizations already told the BC government: “We do not wish to be made complicit in these violations of international law.”
We are following up on our previous letter to BC Attorney General, David Eby, who was at that time responsible for the Liquor Distribution Branch, regarding the stocking of illegal Israeli settlement wines in our public liquor stores. We are corresponding with you as the Minster of Finance, as we understand the BCLDB is now under your jurisdiction.
Since our letter to Mr. Eby (that was neither acknowledged nor answered), and further to the concerns presented by a Feb. 10, 2020 community delegation that were also disregarded, there have been several developments to which we would like to draw your, and your government’s, attention.
On Jan. 12, 2021, Israel’s leading human rights organisation, B’Tselem issued a report under the title: “A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid”.
On Mar. 3, 2021, ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda confirmed “the initiation by the Office of the Prosecutor (”Office”) of the International Criminal Court (”ICC” or the ”Court”) of an investigation respecting the Situation in Palestine. The investigation will cover crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court …”
On April 10, 2021, the NDP convention adopted the Palestine Resolution that called for:
Ending all trade and economic cooperation with illegal settlements in Israel-Palestine
Suspending the bilateral trade of all arms and related materials with the State of Israel until Palestinian rights are upheld.
These are all further proof that by carrying Israeli wines produced in the Palestinian occupied territories, you are complicit in the crime of Apartheid.
Further, as noted multiple times in our previous correspondence with your government, carrying these illegal settlement wines produced in the Palestinian occupied territories also means you are violating International Law and the Fourth Geneva Convention (article 33 Paragraph 2), regarding the pillaging of occupied territories.
We also expect from your NDP government to now abide by the NDP convention resolution on Palestine that called for “Ending all trade and economic cooperation with illegal settlements”. We would like to remind you that over 80% of the NDP delegates voted for the Palestine resolution; these are the same delegates who represent many of the people who elected your government in B.C. and will be waiting to see if NDP officials in power will respect the wishes of the party’s grassroots.
We also remind you again of the Federal Court ruling that “product of Israel” labels from wines made in the West Bank, in the occupied Palestinian territories, are “false, misleading and deceptive”.
The time is over for stonewalling and ignoring our correspondence; your government’s handing of this issue is a grave reflection on your disregard for morality and humanity.
Hanna Kawas,
Chairperson, Canada Palestine Association
c.c. BC Premier John Horgan NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh
